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IndexFunds.com Staff
iShares Announces Annual Distributions
IndexFunds.com Staff
Monday, November 20, 2000
iShares, Inc. released distributions paid to shareholders as of 8/31/2000 for its country-specific iShares based on MSCI indexes.
| iShares MSCI fund |
AMEX symbol |
Total distribution per share |
Share price (8/31/2000 close) |
Distribution as percentage of share price |
| Australia |
EWA |
$0.2326
|
$9.9375
|
2.34%
|
| Austria |
EWO |
$0.0449
|
$7.75
|
0.58%
|
| Belgium |
EWK |
$0.3592
|
$13.25
|
2.71%
|
| Brazil |
EWZ |
$0.3639
|
$19.75
|
1.84%
|
| Canada |
EWC |
$5.0572
|
$17.00
|
29.75%
|
| EMU |
EZU |
$0.0000
|
$76.250
|
0.00%
|
| France |
EWQ |
$1.2333
|
$26.50
|
4.65%
|
| Germany |
EWG |
$2.5316
|
$20.5625
|
12.31%
|
| Hong Kong |
EWH |
$0.2088
|
$13.50
|
1.55%
|
| Italy |
EWI |
$2.2267
|
$22.375
|
9.95%
|
| Japan |
EWJ |
$0.4514
|
$13.8125
|
3.27%
|
| Malaysia |
EWM |
$0.0534
|
$5.9375
|
0.90%
|
| Mexico |
EWW |
$0.4234
|
$16.75
|
2.53%
|
| Netherlands |
EWN |
$0.2257
|
$23.625
|
0.96%
|
| Singapore |
EWS |
$0.1719
|
$7.6875
|
2.24%
|
| South Korea |
EWY |
$0.0000
|
$18.75
|
0.00%
|
| Spain |
EWP |
$0.9491
|
$24.3125
|
3.90%
|
| Sweden |
EWD |
$5.3910
|
$24.625
|
21.89%
|
| Switzerland |
EWL |
$0.1572
|
$15.8125
|
0.99%
|
| Taiwan |
EWT |
$0.8575
|
$16.875
|
5.08%
|
| United Kingdom |
EWU |
$0.9267
|
$18.4375
|
5.03%
|
Source: iShares, Inc., the fund company that authorizes iShares ETFs to be managed
by Barclays Global Fund Advisors, a subsidiary of BGI
Some quick and dirty estimates of capital gains taxes for a hypothetical investor in iShares can be determined from the above chart. For example, John Davis, a single man who pays a long-term invested capital gains rate of 20%, with $10,000 in the iShares MSCI Japan in January would pay about $65.40 on the $327 distribution. On the other hand, had John invested $10,000 in the iShares MSCI Canada, he would pay about $595 in taxes on the $2,975 distribution. In reality, John would pay slightly more than that because the small part of the distribution consisting of short-term capital gains and dividends is taxed as ordinary income.
While in many respects ETFs are inherently more tax-efficient than traditional mutual funds because of their increasingly specialized nature, they can occasionally leave investors open to a big tax hit.